Katessa, adults can look back at a situation and learn from their mistakes and it take a high level of maturity to be critical of one's self so I commend you on your ability to analyze your past and make corrections for the future. There will always be those that challenge us in the classroom. It is rare we ever know the root cause but we can get more insight by speaking with the student in private and asking why they feel their actions are warranted. In the end, the classroom is about all of your students and if one is not willing to allow you to meet the needs of the others then you must work with your administration to work with the student causing the distractions or that student may have to be asked to no longer participate in the classroom. This would be a last resort but the other students deserve a safe and cooperative environment within which to learn. Thanks for sharing and I am sure others will gain some great insight for the information shared here.
James Jackson
I guess I should consider that option. However, the student that I am dealing with now does not arrive early. My teaching schedule doesn't give me a long enough break to consider meeting right after class because I have one immediately following.
It is always nice to have student interaction, but it is also bothersome to have the same student "running" every class discussion.
I had a student during my first quarter who would challenge me frequently in front of the entire class. (Her issues were that we were the same age and she didn't think that I had the knowledge over the information that I was teaching.) I ignored her comments in the beginning and it did get worse. Finally, one day she said something disrespectful to me and I didn't respond so politely. I was totally out of character and it embarrassed the student.
I hadn't had much experience with teaching adults and I just assumed that adults should behave better than high school, middle, or elementary students. (I was wrong.) I learned that my response should never be directed towards the student, but more towards the action that the student has done. In her case, she was always talking during the time that I would be lecturing. Hard lesson to learn, but it has made my management in the class this quarter better.
Joseph, eye contact with a little silence from the instructor can be a very powerful tool to regain control over a class. Thanks for sharing.
James Jackson
Jaime, institutional polices aside, there are many things you can do as the class leader to provide incentives for students to show up on time. Having active learning activities early and late in the class are outstanding techniques. Thanks for sharing and I would be interested in hearing ideas from others as to what they do to get students to come to class on time and remain until the end.
James Jackson
When my class get out of hand all I do is sit and give my class to see me and all of the suddden silence hits them.
I work with adult students and see the problem of coming in late and leaving early, sometimes on a daily basis and with more than 1 student at a time. They are allowed a certain number of hours that is "their time to use as they want" however when you are in the middle of teaching in the morning this lateness becomes a problem. The one thing that seemed to help was having a "do now" at the beginning and end of the class time. From the time class starts till quater after, they have to come in and do a "do now". They get totalled up at the end of the session and that is part of their class participation grade.
Mark, thanks for sharing this important technique. How the instructor sets the stage on the first day can often times decide the outcomes for the remainder of the course.
James Jackson
I totally sgree. I have very few discipline problems in my classes because I set very clear expectations on the first day. I use one word...RESPECT. I have found that most students understand this word despite their age, race, socio economic status, etc. I instill upon them that teir are to repect me and each other and I will return that respect. No one has the right to interfere with the learning of others, period.
Good idea. I also have students sign in and out of class with the exception of break time. It works very well.
Fred
Donald , praise in public but discipline in private. Always a good policy to follow.
James Jackson
Reginald, good job sticking to your policy. If they are that indespensible then they are either not training their staff very well or are not delegating enough of their functions to others. Looks to me like they need their time in the classroom.
James Jackson
Christine, thanks for sharing. Sometimes students just need to know you will not give in and by asking them to take their own time to resolve an issue can be an instant motivator to stop the disruptive behavior.
James Jackson
Hello Dillon,
It is amazing when we take the extra five minutes and find out what is really going on how the behavior will change. As an administrator I deal with student issue and I have found that with that technique 95% of the problems resolve themselves.
in case of discord between students focused on
the good aspects of each other to derive healthy mutual respect and regard. make the student see the problem as a problem and not person as a problem
I don't believe there is an instructor alive that has not dealt with a disruptive student. Those disruptions can range from challenging the instructor on every front to challenging other students and even refusing to participate in class activities.
Adult learners are without a doubt our most challenging. I once had one who continuously complained about the rules being designed to treat them like children. My response to him was that the rules were not put in place to treat him in a childish way, but rather his childish behavior caused him to be disciplined as one would a child. He did not seem to understand until one day he had on headphones listening to a college football game instead of listening to the class discussion. All I did was ask him to remove them and then said "I rest my case". He was the only one that understood the comment and I never had another issue with him.
I so agree that an instructor must model behavior for the students to follow. While this is not always 100% effective, it is certainly a great starting point. I have learned over the years of teaching that often humor is a great way to handle adult learners; but not every incident should be handled the same way and we must be aware of the differences in our students.
I had a student in class that began to argue with me. I should have had the student leave the room and meet me in the office to discuss the situation with her and to discuss a course of action to remedy the situation. I let her stay in the classroom which caused the other students to believe they could be as disruptive with no consequence.
I think that it is very important that you state your classroom expectations from the beginning. I did that from my first mod to current. But I had one student who would constantly go on the Internet during class time. I "caught" her several times. I found that just stating your expectations is not enough. They need a consequence. So now, in my classes, I take away their class participation points for social media use during instructional time. When they review their points, I send them an email stating why they did not get their points as I did with this one student. I advised her that she lost points for social media use. I don't have to say anything except to make eye contact when they are on Facebook. They know from my expectations that if they are "caught" on FB or other media, they will lose their points. In my classes, they have to earn their points.
Bruce, you are not alone and there are no simple solutions. It really all comes back to the institution and the stance they want to take. As an instructor you need the support of your administration to control such matters. One line of thought is to work with your instructional design team and come up with useful mobile tools that make the most use of such technology in the classroom. While another line of thought would suggest working with your administration to enforce some level of (zero tolerance rule) and gives you the empowerment to ask students to leave the class that do not follow classroom procedures. I have seen both of these techniques result in success but the bottom line is the support you will get from your administration. If anyone else has other ideas or comments, please share.
James Jackson
My situation revolves around social media by today's students. It involves the constant usage of texting by a student in class. Not that it was load enough to disturb anyone but it was apparent that this student was not engaged in the class discussion. Prior to this incident at the beginning of the course I read a passage from the course syllabus that directly deals with the usage of cell phones and laptop internet surfing. I waited until after class to talk with the student about staying engaged in the classroom and leaving their devices turned off. The individual countered that they held a very important position and there advice was critical to the success of their organization. I again advised the individual to engage in critical matters during break and to engage fully in the class lesson when in the classroom. I would approach this situation in the same manner. Fortunately this situation did not occur throughout the remainder of the course.
Reginald
